''Pandanus pyramidalis'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

in the family

Pandanaceae Pandanaceae is a family of flowering plants native to the tropics and subtropics of the Old World, from West Africa through the Pacific. It contains 982 known species in five genera, of which the type genus, ''Pandanus'', is the most important, w ...

, endemic to

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Description

A tall species, reaching up to 15 meters in height. Its horizontal branches end in rosettes of tapering leaves. This species can be distinguished by the white or brown spines on its leaves, and by its fruit-heads which hang on strongly recurved stalks. Each fruit-head has 100-150 5.6 cm drupes, which each protrude in a glossy green "pyramid". However, the exposed tip of each drupe is flattened (the areole) and - unlike '' Pandanus heterocarpus'' - without any corky margins. The basal joined portions of the drupes become light yellow when the fruit is ripe.Vaughan, R.E. and Wiehe, P.O. 1953. ''The genus Pandanus in the Mascarene Islands''. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 55:1-32.

Habitat

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

banks in the central highlands. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. The last known wild specimen was destroyed in 1996 and it is possibly extinct.

References

pyramidalis Endemic flora of Mauritius Critically endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1877 Taxa named by Isaac Bayley Balfour {{Pandanales-stub